The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) clarified Friday, Aug. 15, that a Chinese vessel did not enter Manila Bay, contrary to reports surfacing on social media.

Commodore Jay Tarriela, PCG spokesperson for West Philippine Sea (WPS), said a China Coast Guard (CCG) ship with bow number “3306” was spotted 58 nautical miles off Capones Island in Zambales, or 75 nautical miles from Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough or Panatag Shoal).

“They are using the mouth of Manila Bay as a point of reference but in reality, if you are going to check it, it’s really far,” he said.

"That’s why I always keep on mentioning we always measure it from Bataan, or even from Cavite, or even Mindoro because it's much more rational if you're going to use that as a landmark to measure [Chinese vessels'] location," he added.

Tarriela said using Manila Bay as a point of reference for measuring the distance of a Chinese vessel from the country's landmass could be misleading, and would only result to public fear.

"If you're going to use Manila Bay as a point of reference, it will attract so much attention from the public but in reality, it's not really inside Manila Bay or it's not that close from Manila Bay. I'm just clarifying that we should not say that it is near Manila Bay or that it is in the mouth of Manila Bay because there are other provinces that are really close before you use Manila as your point of reference," he explained.

Maritime security analyst Ray Powell, founder of Sealight, a maritime transparency project of the Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation at Stanford University, said CCG-3306 was spotted near Manila Bay on Friday morning where BRP Cape San Agustin, a PCG vessel, was also sailing.

He said it appeared the Chinese ship was “waiting” for BRP Cape San Agustin to emerge, signaling a possible blockade or interception for any PCG vessel moving towards Bajo de Masinloc.

However, Tarriela said this was not the case. He said it was BRP Cape San Agustin that was challenging the presence of the Chinese ship.

“This kind of deployment by the Chinese coast guard has been happening even before,” Tarriela said, adding that such a Chinese vessel was in the area to “normalize” China’s presence in Philippine waters.

“The normalization of the deployment of the Chinese coast guard is not just happening here in the Philippines. They are also doing this in different Southeast Asian countries,” he noted.

Nonetheless, Tarriela said the PCG would continue to patrol the WPS, particularly Bajo de Masinloc where two Chinese vessels collided while chasing a PCG vessel last Aug. 11.

Meanwhile, the PCG confirmed that it has monitored the presence of four new Chinese coast guard vessels near Bajo de Masinloc.

Tarriela said CCG vessels with bow numbers “5306”, “3105”, “3305”, and “4204“ were monitored approximately 11.75 nautical miles to 24 nautical miles from Bajo de Masinloc, seemingly guarding the shoal’s northwest, west, southwest, and southeast entrances.

Powell said Xiang Yang Hong 10, a Chinese research vessel, was also monitored close to Bajo de Masinloc.

“Its purpose there is unknown, but its capabilities include deep-sea surveying, resource exploration and deploying autonomous underwater vehicles,” he said.